Embracing Change – Inspiring Communities’ Strategic Refresh

We have all heard the adage ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it‘, but what about ‘do your maintenance and protect your asset’?  

Inspiring Communities is not broken. After 15 years we have a lot to be proud of – we have contributed to building the community-led development movement across Aotearoa through our efforts to build capability, create and share resources, and encourage collaboration.  

But we are also aware that nothing stands still. As the wider eco-system shifts, we need to continue to evolve and adapt to support the changing challenges facing local communities and the systems they are part of.

Over the past year, we have been undertaking a review – what is working well, what needs tweaking, and what you, our stakeholders want and need from Inspiring Communities for the next 15 years.

We set about doing some maintenance to protect and strengthen Inspiring Communities.  

One message we heard loud and clear was that Inspiring Communities is still a relevant and valued part of the wider system of community-led change, but that we were spreading ourselves too thin by doing too much. That lead us to refining and simplifying our approach, our messaging, and our range of activities.  

We remain fully committed to promoting community-led change in Aotearoa and see the tweaks we are making as steps to sharpen our focus, to areas where we are uniquely placed to support CLD and influence system change. 

Our new goals are: 

• Building Capability: Providing training and sharing CLD information and resources to enhance CLD skills and knowledge within community. 
• Evolving Knowledge: Generating new insights and resources to continually advance understanding and approaches to community-led development. 
• Influencing Change: Championing CLD at a national/system level to establish an environment that enables community-led approaches. 
• Ensuring Sustainability: Upholding strong governance connecting strategy and operations, while achieving financial stability and upholding Inspiring Communities reputation and credibility.

Alongside these strategic changes will be a fit-for-purpose structure of our Board and leadership team. This will mean setting up new roles with specific responsibilities to lead across our goals. The new structure and roles are also about succession planning, as some long-standing Inspiring Communities leaders have signaled it is time to pass on the baton to the next runner. So expect to see further changes soon as we recruit for new leaders who will be critical in implementing our refreshed vision.  

We are still a small organisation with big dreams, and now we have the next pathway to achieving those dreams mapped out!  

Change never happens by sitting back and doing the same thing. Change happens when we are courageous enough to try something different.  

And if status quo is not going to get the us outcomes we want – for Aotearoa, your organisation, or your community – what can we do about that? We can dream big, we can try a new approach and we can be part of the change. 

I’m proud of the changes we are making at Inspiring Communities. We didn’t keep doing the same thing because ‘it wasn’t broken’… instead, we are having a go at doing something even better.  

Thank you to the great team that have put so much effort and heart into this change process.  

And thank you to all our stakeholders – the funders, the participants, the conveners, the collaborators.

Together we can make Aotearoa a place where all communities are at the centre of creating and implementing change to improve their own hauora. 

Donna Provoost, Inspiring Communities Chair

Network Survey 2017 Results

CLD Trends and Next Steps for IC – What you’ve told us!

“Inspiring Communities is a unique organisation in NZ and offers considerable expertise and practical help in community-led development policy and actions.”

IC Network Survey Respondent, November 2017

Thanks to everyone who took part in our biannual IC Network Survey.  Around 200 people from diverse places, sectors and CLD perspectives shared their views on both community-led development trends and future directions for Inspiring Communities.

In terms of the big picture, 67% of survey respondents agreed that the profile and awareness of CLD has increased in the last few years – up from 60% in 2015.  Belief in the importance of CLD to New Zealand’s future also strengthened this year to 92%, up from 85% in 2015.  The need to do more to strengthen community leadership in Aotearoa was also recognised – up 8% to 92%.

Interestingly, perceptions of local and central government understanding about CLD both dropped in the latest survey results, as did business-community understandings of their mutually supportive roles:

• There is a good understanding of CLD within local government (18% in 2017, down from 23% in 2015)
• There is a good understanding of CLD within central government (14%, down from 18%)
• Local communities really understand their role in supporting local businesses (22%, down from 29%)
• Local businesses really understand their role in supporting local communities (19% down from 24%)

While reasons for changes in perceptions are not entirely clear, some respondent comments offer clues:

“The understanding of CLD seems varied and uneven across the country.”

“Within central government there is much talk about the complexity of social problem[s], the need for joined up responses and much talk about client and whanau-centred approaches etc, but little understanding/awareness of how you achieve this at a community level or the need to use a community development approach.”

“There is lots of use of CLD concepts and words in local government but little active brokering or resourcing.”

“The new government brings opportunities for expanding CLD in central government.”

Two thirds of respondents agreed that Inspiring Communities has contributed to the growing profile and understanding of CLD in Aotearoa, with 62% noting that CLD learning tools, stories and tips from IC had helped them in their CLD practice during the last year.  Again, hosting international speakers and thought leaders topped the most valued part of IC’s work, followed by our email newsletters and website.

In terms of what other things people wanted to see Inspiring Communities do in 2018, there were two clear favourites:

• More regional networking to connect those interested/involved in CLD (82%)
• More skills based CLD workshops, training and events (80%)

Others commented on the need for IC to do more tailored training with specific audiences like local government, business and central government.   Those in rural communities also requested more self-directed/online learning support so that distance is not a barrier to CLD learning and training. Another idea was for IC to generate and host a new CLD capability fund that communities could tap into to contract their own mentors, action researchers, facilitators and trainers from other communities.

The need for Inspiring Communities to do some more intentional tracking of trends in relation to both ‘iwi, hapū and mana whenua-led’ development and CLD was noted, with overall tracking of trends in both dimensions of overall CLD seen as important.  We agree, and will build this into the work we’ve kicked off to explore what makes CLD in Aotearoa different to that happening elsewhere in the world.

Our team will process all your suggestions and ideas as we prepare our 2018 Annual Plan.  We’ll also be in touch in the New Year with those who wanted to chat about opportunities to work more closely with your community or organisation.  It’s going to be another exciting year!

Community Coaching

Are you after some support? Would you like four sessions with one of our Coaches?
Community Coaching with Inspiring Communities

Community-led development (CLD) is hard and often messy.  There are no rulebooks or recipes to follow.

Community coaching gives you the space to reflect on and unpack your community-led practice.  Understand what’s working, what’s not – figure our why, and what you might next do next.

You set the agenda for what you’d like to work on over 4, one hour sessions during the year.

We can match you with a community coach who will:

• Help you apply CLD principles in your work
• Link you to helpful tools and resources to enhance your practice
• Offer ideas and tactics around the ‘tricky’ stuff
• Enable you to reflect on changes, impacts and learning in real time – community-led development really is ‘learning by doing’

Price – 4 coaching sessions =  NGOs $590 plus GST, LG/CG/Business/Funders $890 plus GST

Community Coaching for NGO’s is supported by the Community Leadership Fund

If you’re interested in coaching email us and we can plan what is best for you.

Grants support may be available in different parts of the country.

Do you know others that may be interesting in having a coach? Download and share our information sheet.

Our CLD Election Manifesto, 2017

Inspiring Communities  has developed an election Manifesto that outlines the value of Government applying a community-led approach to address the country’s challenges and opportunities. We are asking all political party leaders to put local solutions advocated by local communities more at the centre. We have called for a number of actions that we believe will enable Government to act more as a partner, enabler and co-host rather than prescribing from the top.

We encourage you to spread this manifesto far and wide into the depths of your place – and beyond. Take it, adapt it – meet with your local MP and candidates in this year’s election. Ask them: What their party’s position is on taking a CLD approach to address the challenges faced in communities? Will their party adopt the five CLD principles as outlined in the manifesto? You could tell your story, as a powerful illustration of communities leading change.

Talk about your challenges and opportunities, what works – what needs to change. Ask them to commit to being more innovative so together we generate positive change and sustainable wellbeing for all New Zealanders.

Download Inspiring Communities’ CLD Election Manifesto

We’d love to hear what they say – let us know 

Our Theory of Change

CC-A-NC-ND

Inspiring Communities has developed a new Theory of Change which has evolved from what we have learned from the collective wisdom in communities across Aoteoaroa.

It illustrates how sustainable change happens using a community-led development approach – beginning with the understanding that all communities have the ability to thrive and that effective change is dynamic – there is no perfect ‘straight line’ plan.

The Theory comes with an explanation outlining the phases and transitions between them. Inspiring Communities has developed this Theory to build understanding about how CLD happens and what our role is. We encourage you to share it, and to use it as a resource in your work too. Let us know what you think!
CLD Theory of Change Diagram with explanation 2018
CLD Theory of Change Diagram Only 2018

We invite you to use and share our theory of change – but please attribute Inspiring Communities in all communications.

A light touch – firm results

From the side-lines we watched a piece of unused council land in Central Auckland transform into a garden that would encourage pollinators like butterflies and bees. One woman with a small idea working alone – until the neighbours noticed and got involved
While tending the garden they began to talk about the wall and tunnel opposite which were tagged and a magnet for dubious activity.

A small group decided to organise a competition to put a mural up on the wall. A local artist was announced the winner. But then funding was required, and gathering that was taking a while which is when Inspiring Communities became involved.

We helped strategise, we acted as social brokers, putting them in touch with the right people, giving them language and approaches to use. We helped them figure out how to plug into others in the community to ensure they were building on the existing strengths.

We provided a sounding board and ideas to help fundraise and get local businesses involved. We suggested they approach Council to contribute once local support and resourcing was secured and gave them advice about keeping local people engaged.

We then took a lead role in promoting progress on the painting and in organising a Neighbours Day celebration to thank neighbours.

This process and resulting mural have given the Eden Terrace community a sense of pride and security. It’s also led to re-vegetating the small reserve above the tunnel and there is talk of other events and enterprises to help pay for maintenance and upkeep of the mural, garden and reserve.

IC Survey results demonstrate the Influence of IC and CLD

Inspiring Communities has been very influential in changing the thinking about community-led development and being a conduit to innovative ideas and Kiwi practice wisdom.

Survey respondent

Inspiring Communities November survey shows that IC and CLD are highly valued by respondents.

We are encouraged to see our newsletter, hosting international speakers, the resources we produce and the research we share as well as influencing others, our public policy work and Boost Camp all rated highly.

About 2/3 say that Inspiring Communities has contributed to the growing profile and awareness of CLD in NZ and almost 60% say CLD learning tools, stories and tips from Inspiring Communities have helped them in their roles.  Over 70% of respondents highly regard our summaries and the ‘how to’s’ of CLD techniques and workshops based on Learning by Doing Chapters.

Comments suggest that Inspiring Communities could make these chapters even more useful by  contextualising them via workshops and other presentations as well as sharing via Facebook, Skype and video as these are the most regularly used electronic tools.

Respondents also believe there is more work to be done in educating associated sectors. While definitive that CLD is a game changer, there is concern at a lack of understanding of its true value.

• Community-led development is important part of NZ’s future (85.17%)
• There is a need to strengthen community-leadership in NZ (83.90%)
• Local communities really understand their role in supporting local businesses (29.24%)
• Local businesses really understand their role in supporting local communities (23.73%)
• There is a good understanding of CLD within local government (23.30%)
• There is a good understanding of CLD within central government (17.80%)

The team is currently considering the opportunities raised in the survey. The series of training and events outlined later in this newsletter are just some of these initiatives.

Unfortunately there was a technical problem in collating contact details. We have been unable to get in touch with people who signalled an interest in working with us. If you did we would appreciate you contacting us at exchange@inspiringcommunities.org.nz and we will follow up.

Again we would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete this survey, it has certainly given us plenty of valuable information.

Eden Terrace: A light touch – firm results

From the side-lines we watched a piece of unused council land in Central Auckland transform into a garden that would encourage pollinators like butterflies and bees. One woman with a small idea working alone – until the neighbours noticed and got involved
While tending the garden they began to talk about the wall and tunnel opposite which were tagged and a magnet for dubious activity.

A small group decided to organise a competition to put a mural up on the wall. A local artist was announced the winner. But then funding was required, and that was taking a while which is when Inspiring Communities became involved.

We helped strategise, we acted as social brokers, putting them in touch with the right people, giving them language and approaches to use. We helped them figure out how to plug into others in the community to ensure they were building on the existing strengths.

We provided a sounding board and ideas to help fundraise and get local businesses involved. We suggested they approach Council to contribute once local support and resourcing was secured and gave them advice about keeping local people engaged.

We then took a lead role in promoting progress on the painting and in organising a Neighbours Day celebration to thank neighbours.

This process and resulting mural have given the Eden Terrace community a sense of pride and security. It’s also led to re-vegetating the small reserve above the tunnel and there is talk of other events and enterprises to help pay for maintenance and upkeep of the mural, garden and reserve.

The Backbone for CLD

As the backbone for community-led Development in Aotearoa New Zealand, we provide a number of pivotal services and products that help accelerate change and deepen knowledge.

We are the reference point for community-led development in Aotearoa. We collect and share research, growing a pool of evidence of what works as well as advocate for CLD to be more widely adopted.

Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve offered recently:

• Neighbourhood Boost Camp – an intensive leadership development and learning weekend for grass-roots leaders.
• We co-hosted the national Our Place Conference with Inclusive NZ and Be.Accessible.
• We’ve shared our insights at a number of events including; the NZ Community Boards Conference, Treasury hosted Inclusive Economy workshop, and the Civics and Media Project.
• We co-hosted a Provocative Breakfast – How can Auckland do density well?
• We wrote a chapter on CLD for an upcoming book being published by the Auckland District Council of Social Services.

Harder to quantify,  but vitally important is the social brokering we have undertaken between local and central government officials and community organisations, supporting them to improve their effectiveness and to work in new ways.

We operate beyond sectors at multiple levels – individuals, families, streets, communities, and nationally, linking government agencies, businesses and community organisations. We exist to support them to find locally-led solutions for sustainable change.

Inaugural Boost Camp a Huge Success!

“My biggest learning was looking for strengths in others, and how these can be knitted together so that everyone is free to grow.”         – Boost Camp participant

Working on leadership skills and the mix of listening and hands on learning are just some of the positive outcomes participants at our very first Boost Camp pinpointed after spending two days at Tatum Park, Levin recently.

The idea to run Boost camp was in response to our research last year, Strengthening  Neighbourhoods in Aotearoa which identified the need for more training, learning and connecting opportunities. It prompted the Inspiring Communities team to think about how we could creatively package and share what we’ve been learning about working at neighbourhood scale.

Held from Friday evening to mid-Sunday afternoon Boost Camp was all about connecting local leaders and wisdom around what works and enables neighbourhood-led action to thrive.

A diverse mix of 32 neighbourhood people, armed with heaps of passion, came together from lower North Island communities.  They brought and traded their knowledge about time banking, community gardening, supporting and connecting local families, creating local hubs, promoting community safety, growing local leaders, sharing local assets, encouraging generosity and transforming local environments.

We learnt from each other and were also inspired by amazing catalyst speakers.  Trent Hiles from Gap Filler reminded us what’s possible when you just get on and do things – and then invite people in to use and be part of locally created spaces and places.  We also learned from Dave Tims about building and connecting local people and their assets – from the street up – in Randwick Park, Manurewa.

We worked on ourselves, our leadership skills and made plans for what we will do next  back in our local communities.  And if that wasn’t enough, there was a bonfire, a crazy flying fox and Sunday morning site visit with passionate Waitohu Stream Care Group members at Otaki Beach.  Not only was their dune restoration programme impressive, so was their baking!

For Boost Camp facilitators, Denise and Megan, it was a great first up learning experience too.  “Boost was about creating an ako-ako space where we’re all teachers and learners.  Everyone participated 120%.   The fact that  92% of attendees gave Boost a 4 or 5 out of 5 (very satisfied) rating shows us we have a valuable learning process that many communities can benefit from”, says Megan.

Here’s a sample of participants’ comments

• “I loved the mix of listening and hands on learning”
• “The speakers were amazing and provided good examples of who, where and how things are already working around the country.”
•  “I loved the opportunity to talk in small groups and having enough free time to network informally.”
• “I’ve learnt more about sharing leadership, giving space for others to lead and grow and appreciate the value of play in providing opportunities for people to come together.”

Denise says Boost Campers also offered some really useful suggestions for making the next one even better.  “We want to take these ideas and feedback to further develop the Boost programme and offering.  Ideally, we’d love to run four Boost Camps in and with different New Zealand communities in 2016″.

Check out images from the weekend on our facebook page

If you’re interested in learning more about Boost please contact Megan:Megan.Courtney@inspiringcommunities.org.nz

PS: if you’re looking for a fantastic community friendly workshop or conference type venue outside of Wellington, we totally recommend Tatum Park.  They have a range of accommodation options, massive grounds and their customer service is top knotch!